NORFOLK, Virginia -- Hampton University's women went almost three years without losing a conference game. They've lost two in the past eight days.

The Lady Pirates' dominance of rival Norfolk State ended Saturday amid an avalanche of missed shots and spotty defense.

The Spartans overcame early deficits and made plays at critical times for a 71-66 win in overtime at Echols Hall, snapping a 17-game losing streak in the series that stretched back more than eight years.

Hampton (10-11, 6-2 MEAC) remained in first place in the conference, one game in the loss column ahead of Savannah State and Norfolk State. But the league race is unofficially wide open after the Lady Pirates' second consecutive Saturday loss.

Hollis had eight rebounds, eight assists and eight steals for the Wildcats (9-12, 6-3 MEAC), who have won five consecutive games overall, the first time that has occured since 2009-10. Kailyn Williams contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds and a game-highs seven blocks. It is her fourth double-double in the past five games.

It also was the first win for coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis against the Rattlers in Tallahassee.

“(The win) feels great,” Blair-Lewis said. “It's really great for these young ladies to come out here and not just win, but turn four wins into five wins.”

ORLANDO, Florida -- For most who follow National Signing Day, football recruits often are viewed through the promise of coming days.

Saturdays, mostly.

A player's value directly correlates to his production on the field for his chosen school. How he got there matters little. What he does once he arrives means everything.

At Oak Ridge, Nyqwan Murray (FSU), Deangelo Antoine (USF), Jehojada Jean-Baptiste (Florida A&M)and Darren Bostick (Nassau Community College in VINew York) are expected to sign Wednesday. They will be not unlike many of the estimated 150 area football players who eventually make their commitments official with Football Bowl Subdivision or Football Championship Subdivision schools.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The friend request popped onto Josh Kaplowitz’s Facebook page one afternoon. He was at his office at a top-shelf D.C. law firm, but the name on the screen transported him to a very different place, a decade earlier, to a time of humiliation and failure.

Just seeing Raynard Ware’s name that January day in 2012 spiked the young lawyer’s heart rate. His first thought: “You ruined my life.” It had been only in the past few years that Kaplowitz had been able to live without The Incident looming over him — the assault allegation, the arrest, 33 hours in a detention cell, trial, acquittal, a $20 million lawsuit against him, the impossibility of knowing if he would ever really recover.

Even now, with a new career and a family, Kaplowitz had yet to tell his children about what 7-year-old Raynard had said he had done to him. Kaplowitz hadn’t even told his kids that he had been a D.C. public school teacher — an idealist fresh out of Yale who thought he was going to help transform the lives of poor, inner-city children but who was instead besieged by unruly kids and, then, in a whirlwind of accusations and acrimony, was said to have pushed a 7-year-old to the floor.

NORFOLK, Virginia -- Jeff Short admits he sometimes peruses the NCAA scoring stats just to see his name ahead of players from powers like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia.

The online list proves two things: that Short, after a major detour that had him buried on the bench of his hometown team, has finally arrived, and that what he's doing at Norfolk State is not a dream.

Short, a 6-foot-4 native of the Bronx, N.Y., leads the MEAC and is 15th in the country with 20.0 points per game entering today's 6 p.m. showdown with rival Hampton.

Only four players in the nation have made more field goals than Short's 156, and the guard is a big reason the Spartans (14-9, 7-1 MEAC) remain contenders for a regular-season title with just eight games left.

But Short, a product of New York City's fabled AAU system, came by it the hard way. Basketball was his way out of an adolescence fraught with temptations like gangs, drugs, violence and other distractions.

Friday, January 30, 2015

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana dropped a collective 21 games out of 193 Friday and opened the spring 2015 portion of its men's and women's tennis schedules with 9-0 victories against city rival Loyola at XU Tennis Center.

The Gold Nuggets are ranked third in the NAIA, and the Gold Rush are eighth.

Xavier did not lose a game in 7-of-16 matches. The Gold Nuggets won 6-0, 6-0 in 4-of-5 contested singles matches. Loyola defaulted two women's matches because it had five available players.

Winning 6-0, 6-0 in singles for the Gold Nuggets were Carmen Nelson, Brion Flowers, Sha'Nel Bruins and Dasia Harris. Tushar Mandlekar won by the same score for the Gold Rush. Flowers and Bruins won 8-0 in doubles, as did Kyle Montrel and Jordan Harrell in men's doubles.

Harris, a redshirt freshman, competed in a collegiate dual match for the first time. So did first-year freshman Jeremiah Capdeville, who dropped the first three games against Anthony Zaleski but rallied for a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 6 men's singles.

"It felt good to get the season started again," 12th-year XU coach Alan Green said. "Everyone was feeling good today, and we showed it with some efficient victories. It will be a long season, and hopefully we can learn something from each match and improve each time we get on the court."

Both Loyola teams are 0-2.

In six seasons of competition against Loyola, Xavier has lost just two matches on the court — none since 2011.

The Gold Nuggets will play another city rival, Tulane (3-0), at 2 p.m. Saturday at City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center. The next Gold Rush dual will start at 6 p.m. Friday at Louisiana-Lafayette.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- In 1985 FAMU women’s basketball team was first in the state and 14th nationally in attendance, averaging 1,555 attendees per game. In February of 1986 these Rattlerettes would face the FSU Seminoles before a crowd of 2,301 of mostly Rattler partisan fans in the Tallahassee Civic Center. It was FAMU back then who had most of the fan support. In fact, during the 1985 game between Florida State and FAMU with FSU as the home team, the FAMU pep band was requested to play the national anthem because the Seminole pep band was too small to tackle the feat.

FAMU starters, sisters Ester and Gail Myrick, and Valerie Seay would challenge all comers including the University of Central Florida, who along with the Rattlerettes were part of the New South Women’s Athletic Conference. The Rattlerettes did it as much with their defense as they did with their offense. They became the top defensive team in the conference holding other teams to 65 points per game. One star on that team, 5’10 small forward Cynthia Lee, remembers how tenacious they were on defense. “I remember this girl named Sue on FSU’s team, who could kill it with set shots. My goal (defensively) was to not let her get in her rhythm.”

Livingstone Blue Bears who were previously ranked 18th has jumped to the 11th spot on the USA Today's TOP 25, NCAA Division II Coaches Poll.

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- Coach Anita Howard of the Livingstone women’s basketball team hasn’t received any tickets yet driving back and forth from Winston-Salem to Salisbury.

“No, I’ve been pretty good about that,” said Howard, who will bring the 19-0 Blue Bears to Joel Coliseum tonight for a 6:30 p.m. game against Winston-Salem State.

Howard — whose husband, Theo, works at WSSU — spent the last two seasons building a winner at Salem College before moving on to Livingstone.

In just her first season, it’s obvious that the Blue Bears are a favorite to halt Shaw’s dominance of the CIAA Tournament. Shaw is the four-time defending league champion — but Livingstone rolled to a 78-60 win over Shaw in Raleigh earlier this season.

HAMPTON, Virginia — Two weeks ago, Hampton University was tied for first in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and looked every bit a contender — a deep team with plenty of options, steeled by a challenging nonleague schedule.

Fourteen days later, the Pirates reside in the middle of the pack after a series of near-misses and squandered opportunities. They will try to regain their footing against their chief rival, a Norfolk State team that sits near the top of the league, at about 6 p.m. Saturday at the Spartans’ Echols Hall.

“I think we’re down on our confidence,” Pirates coach Ed Joyner Jr. said. “When you blow one or two (games), if your confidence ain’t right, it can turn into three, into four. We’ve got to go win a ballgame. Each game we’ve had good starts. We had good stretches. We just didn’t close them out properly.”

The Pirates (8-12, 4-4 MEAC) have lost four in a row, the program’s longest conference losing streak since January 1999, when they lost five in a row in former coach Steve Merfeld’s second season.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Even though Byron Samuels in his first year as Florida A&M’s head men’s basketball coach, he knows exactly how important a game against Bethune-Cookman is to the fans.

Samuels and the Rattlers (0-20, 0-7 MEAC) play a home game against the Wildcats (6-15, 2-5) at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Al Lawson Center. It’s a game university officials are marketing heavily in order to get additional fans in seats.

“We know it’s not just another game,” Samuels said.

“Our kids understand that. We’ll get a few moments in practice and go over our scouting report and talk about the keys to the game and keys to success on Saturday. Game plan in (Thursday), practice it (Friday), execute it on Saturday. I’m very familiar with the game and all aspects of the rivalry.”

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The Southern women’s basketball team concludes the first half of the Southwestern Athletic Conference season when it visits Alcorn State at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Jaguars (6-2 and 8-10 overall) have come a long way since a rocky start to the conference schedule.

The preseason favorite lost two its first three games, matching its loss total during its title run last season.

But since then, Southern has won five straight and only its last victory (53-49 at Alabama State on Monday) was by fewer than 16 points.

“We’re playing more as a team,” guard Britney Washington said. “At first, coach (Sandy Pugh) was telling us that we were taking the ‘me shot’ instead of the ‘we shot’. We’ve gotten better, and we’re moving the ball better.

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana --The Southern men’s basketball team is in third place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

If the Jaguars had come up with one more basket or one more defensive stop at the right moment in their two losses, they’d be undefeated in the SWAC and sitting all alone in first place.

That’s how close they are to being the pace-setter, but instead they’re 6-2, a half-game behind Texas Southern, a game and a half behind Alabama State and down in the tie-breaker to both as they prepare to visit Alcorn State (3-5, 4-16) at 5 p.m. Saturday.

“We haven’t learned how to put it all together yet,” coach Roman Banks said.

In Southern’s 59-58 loss at home to Texas Southern on Jan.
5, the Jaguars led by a point with less than a minute to play, missed a free throw that would have given them a two-point lead with 28 seconds left and sank a 3-pointer a second after the final buzzer sounded.

More than 2,100 student musicians took to the field for a memorable mass band performance.

The Marching Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University performed at a record tenth straight Invitational Showcase; the Howard University Showtime Marching Band and Talladega College Marching Tornado Band performed for the first time.

Tens of thousands of fan-produced social media posts using "#HBOB" helped spread the message around the world.

Ms. Audrey Stradford was named the first-ever Honda Power of Dreams Award honoree for her lifelong dedication to serving HBCU students and the Tennessee State University community, and was awarded a brand new 2015 Honda CRV on the field.

Honda provided more than $200,000 in grants to participating HBCUs during the program period in support of music education.

The 2015 theme, "March On," encouraged student musicians and fans to follow their dreams despite whatever obstacles they may face.

Fans were treated to an unforgettable performance by hip-hop legends Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick, and a heartwarming rendition of the national anthem by actress and singer Demetria McKinney.

"Honda congratulates the bands that participated in this year's Invitational Showcase, and thanks all of the schools, students, alumni and fans who joined us to celebrate these amazing student musicians," said Stephan Morikawa, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Community Relations, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "Honda is proud that the Invitational Showcase truly helped students realize what Honda calls The Power of Dreams."

The following eight bands performed at the 13th Annual Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase. Each band received a $20,000 grant from Honda for their school's music education program:

Tune-in March 21-25, 2015 as Honda hosts the 26th installment of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) Nationals in Torrance, CA. HCASC is a unique academic competition that celebrates, supports and recognizes academic excellence at HBCUs. Since 1989, Honda has touched more than 100,000 students through HCASC. Learn more at http://www.hcasc.com/

For highlights, connect with Honda Battle of the Bands on social media using #HBOB.

Honda's long-standing commitment to the support and success of the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) began more than 25 years ago with the establishment of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, a program designed to showcase the academic gifts and prowess of HBCU students. American Honda began its support of Honda Battle of the Bands more than 13 years ago as an effort to support HBCU music programs.

Honda seeks to be a company that society wants to exist, creating products and technologies that improve the lives of people while minimizing the environmental impacts of its products and business operations to ensure a sustainable future for society. Honda is also committed to making positive contributions to the communities where it does business, to socially responsible business practices and to the promotion of diversity in its workforce. From our involvement in STEM education and HBCUs to our support of pediatric brain tumor research, and support of volunteer efforts by Honda associates, including environmental clean-up activities, Honda believes in giving back to communities where it does business. Find out more at csr.honda.com.

LOS ANGELES, California -- Black college educators and supporters are sharply split over whether President Obama’s proposal to offer a free two-year community college education to students making progress toward earning an associate or bachelor’s degree would hurt are harm Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Lezli Baskerville, president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), a nonprofit network of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs), including community colleges, said that for students who have a gap in funding or choose to go to a two-year institution and don’t have adequate funding, America’s College Promise would create another opportunity for them.

“We are trying to make sure that students that want to go and get a technical certification or some training to get their foot in the door, can do that,” said Baskerville. “We also want to incentivize and facilitate students who want to get a four-year degree doing that, especially low-income students for whom options are very, very limited.”

Baskerville said that the jury is still out on whether a student would opt to go to a two-year college for free instead of going to an HBCU.

RICHMOND, Virginia -- Kedrick Moody will become the new coach at Meadowbrook High School. Moody led Armstrong the past three seasons, revitalizing a downtrodden program. He replaces Troy Taylor, who announced Thursday that he accepted the position of quarterbacks coach at Virginia Union.

Taylor went 44-19 in six seasons at Meadowbrook. The Monarchs went 5-6 in 2014, and Taylor resigned at the end of the year.

"(I'm) excited to be a part of Virginia Union University’s football program," Taylor said.

It will be Troy Taylor’s first collegiate coaching job. He steps into a program that made dramatic improvements in head coach Mark James’ first year.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Services are scheduled this weekend for Christopher C. Styles, the first African-American band director and chair of the department of music at St. Petersburg College, who died at the age of 79 on Jan. 22.

Mr. Styles, who went by Chris, was born in St. Petersburg and dedicated his life to giving back to the community through music, said his sister, Gladys Styles Johnston. He taught music for more than 50 years and was a member of the St. Petersburg chapter of the NAACP, the Pinellas County Urban League, the Junior Symphony, the Al Downing Jazz Association and the Florida A&M University Alumni Association.

He graduated from FAMU in 1954, and as a student he played in the marching band. During his time in the Army, Mr. Styles directed one of the bands. Later, he received a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

Most recently, Mr. Styles received the 2014 Ring of Honor award in recognition of ...

CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts -- With the release of today's ACC football schedule, we've learned that Boston College has replaced New Mexico State with the Howard Bison. The Bison will travel to Chestnut Hill to take on the Eagles on September 12. The game marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs.Howard, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, started last season 1-7 but rattled off four straight wins to end the year to finish 5-7 overall and 3-5 in MEAC play. Last season, the Bison played two games against FBS opponents -- falling to Akron 41-0 in the opener and at Rutgers, 38-25, in week 2.Boston College joins North Carolina as the only other ACC school to face two FCS opponents this season. North Carolina faces North Carolina A&T on September 12 and Delaware on September 26.The biggest implication to scheduling two FCS schools -- ...CONTINUE READING

BOWIE, Maryland -- The CIAA Northern Division leading Trojans of Virginia State held off a furious Bowie State charge to squeeze by the #4 Bulldogs 62-61. The loss snaps a Bowie State four game winning streak and sets the Bulldogs season mark at 16-6, 8-2 in conference play and 3-1 in the division."We could not have played any better defensively and could not have played in worse offensively", stated Bowie State head coach Darrell Brooks.Virginia State (14-5, 8-2 CIAA, 5-0 North), winners of six straight, which included tonight's win, were led by Elijah Moore (Yorktown, Va.) with 17 points. Lamar Kearse (Syracuse, N.Y.) added 12 points and Xavier Parham (Richmond, Va.) came off the Trojans bench to contribute 11 points to go along with seven rebounds and tied for team-high assist honors with three.Tyrece Little (Greenville, N.C.) grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for the Trojans and Alphonso Leary (Norfolk, Va.) was responsible for six rebounds and six points.Bowie State senior Cameron Knox (Baltimore, Md.) shook off a slow start (four first half points) to lead the Bulldogs with 18 points. Juniors Julian Livingston (Bowie, Md.) and Justin Beck (Ellicott City, Md.), tallied 11 and 10 points respectively in the loss. Beck led the Bulldogs on the glass with a team-high six rebounds and recorded a career-high three blocks.As a team, the Bulldogs recorded a season-best nine blocks but were out-rebounded 42-39.The first half featured six lead changes until a 3-pointer by Virginia State's Moore broke a 14-all tie at the 9:17 mark. The Trojans closed the first half with a 17-11 run to take a 34-29 advantage into intermission.Neither team shot very well over the first 20 minutes with Virginia State hitting 13-of-35 (371.1 percent) compared to 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) for Bowie State.The Trojans extended their lead to a game-high 12 points (42-30) early in the second half, but could not put the Bulldogs away.The Bulldogs defense put the clamps on the Trojans which allowed Bowie State to go on an 8-2 run to trim the deficit to 44-40 with 12:25 remaining in the game.Virginia State pushed their lead to 52-44 at the 10:01 mark only to see Bowie State's Beck and Knox answer with back-to-back triples, cutting the Trojans lead to 52-50. From that points, the Trojans responded with an 8-2 spurt only to have the Bulldogs battle back to pull even at 61-all following a 3-pointer by Knox with 19 seconds left on the A.C. Jordan Arena scoreboard.On Virginia State's next possession, the Trojans took the air out of the ball until Tyler Peterson drove to the basket and was fouled by Bowie State senior Zafir Williams (Philadelphia, Pa.) with five seconds left to play. Peterson missed the first of two but made the second for the 62-61 lead.Following a Bowie State time out, Williams drove down the Bulldogs sideline and took a short, off balance layup that missed the mark as time expired."We missed layups, missed free throws and turned the ball over and that's a bad combination when you're trying to win a close basketball game", said Brooks. We defended well, rebounded pretty good and played with toughness but those little things became big things".The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday (January 31st) hosting the Vikings of Elizabeth City State at 4 pm.

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- The best passes Robert Davis made against Winston-Salem State were the ones he didn’t throw.

The J.C. Smith point guard had his biggest game as a collegian with a game-high 19 points in the Golden Bulls’ 81-78 win against CIAA South rival Winston-Salem State at a packed Brayboy Gym Wednesday. Davis, a freshman, scored 15 points in the second half, including six late to break a four-game slide.

“At practices at different times (J.C. Smith coach Steve Joyner) would get on me about not looking for myself as much,” he said. “I’m really trying to get everybody involved but they’re pressuring me to try to do it for myself. I’m working on it.”

The effort paid off for Davis and J.C. Smith (10-11, 4-6), which won its first division game in four tries. Davis hit 6-of-9 shots and all six free throws to add a new dimension to the Golden Bulls’ offense. “We’ve been talking with him a little bit about that,” Joyner said.

RALEIGH, North Carolina -- The nationally ranked Livingstone College women's basketball team remain undefeated on the season with a clutch 96-73 win over the Falcons of Saint Augustine's University Wednesday night inside Emery Gymnasium.

The Lady Falcons jumped out to control the lead at the start of the game going on a 6-0 run before Jamara Malonecame down for an easy lay-in to put the Lady Blue Bears on the board.

The Lady Falcons got up to as many as 11 points at one point early in the first half, giving the Blue Bears something to think about.

On the Blue Bears' ensuing possession Alexis Fowler was fouled and drained her two shots to tie the game up at 22 points apiece.

Alexis Hicks and Cierra York became the catalyst for the remainder of the first half, with Hicks hitting the next four straight shots, followed by York's next five shots, to send the Blue Bears ahead by 15 points to a score of 43-28.

"What got me going was the slow start that our team had at the beginning of the half", said Hicks.

Once York and Hicks got heated up, it was no stopping these two. Things turned around dramatically and the Blue Bears went into halftime leading by 18 points (48-30).

York and Hicks led the first half as the only two in double figures, with 13 and 10 points respectively.

After the break, Labrea Walker opened the game up to a sweet three-pointer to start the pace of the second half.

The second half did not fluctuate too much as the Blue Bears took off and never looked back en route to another victory.

Balanced scoring and teamwork kept the Blue Bears in control which made it difficult for the Lady Falcons to take back the lead.

The Lady Blue Bears shot a blistering 52.2% (35-67) over the Lady Falcons insignificant 27.8 % (20-72) from the field.

The Blue Bears finished with a 49-44 rebounding advantage and connected on 18-22 shots from the charity stripe.

Cierra York came out red-hot and underscored her accolades as she scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds, gave out six assists and collected three steals, leading six players in double figures.

"When one person is off another is on, that how deep our bench is. Tonight was most certainly a team effort", saidAlexis Hicks who had 10 points.

From buzzer to buzzer the team played hard and were efficient in their efforts.

The Lady Blue Bears remain unbeaten with an overall 19-0 record, and 10-0 in the CIAA Conference standing.

The team will travel to Winston-Salem State this Saturday (Jan 31) to take on the Rams. The game will begin an hour behind the regular schedule due to prior practice. The team will tip-off at 6:30 P.M. and the door will open no earlier than 5:45 P.M.For athletic updates please visit the website at www.bluebearathletics.com

DURHAM, North Carolina — Saint Augustine’s University running back Roderick Davenport (redshirt Jr./Orangeburg) led the CIAA in rushing in 2014, earning him a place on the all-CIAA Football first team announced at the CIAA Football Championship Awards Banquet at the Durham Convention Center.

The former Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School standout was one of three Saint Augustine’s players on the All-CIAA squad. Wide receiver/return specialist Claytin Lewis (Fr./Raleigh, N.C.) and offensive lineman Martize Smith (Sr./High Point, N.C.) were selected to the second team.

The trio helped the Falcons finish third in the Southern Division after they were picked fifth by the league coaches in the preseason. Overall, the Falcons tied for the sixth-best conference record after they were picked to be the ninth-best CIAA team in July 2014.

“It is good to see the kids receive accolades for their hard work this season,” interim head coach Michael Morand said. “They went through a lot. If you keep praying and having faith, good things will happen if you put in the time on the field and in the classroom.”

MURFREESBORO, North Carolina -- The Chowan University athletic department is set to host the annual Play4Kay game in conjunction with the women's basketball program and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) on February 11th. This is the seventh year that the athletic department, women's basketball program and SAAC will host the event, which is intended to raise cancer awareness along with money dedicated for cancer research. Chowan is set to host the Virginia State Lady Trojans at 5:30 pm in the Helms Center.

This year's event will feature a photo booth, cotton candy, in-game contests and prizes. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to show their support. Chowan students that are in attendance by tip-off will receive free popcorn and pizza.

T-shirts will also be available for sale, with proceeds benefiting cancer research. The price for t-shirts is $10. Nationwide, the Play4Kay campaign has raised over $3.8 million to support women's cancer research since its inception in 2007.

It takes a village to battle cancer. The athletic department is seeking cancer survivors to celebrate that village with a survivors walk during halftime on February 11th. Survivors come in many forms, from family and friends to personal diagnosis.

The athletic department is hoping to have active community participation to help raise cancer awareness and funds for cancer research. To take part in this event please contact Meredith Long at longm@chowan.edu or (252) 398-6468.

The lawsuit follows a racial-discrimination complaint filed in 2009 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC investigation found there was reasonable cause to conclude that Bahhur was discriminated against because of his race, which is a violation of the federal Civil Rights Act, according to a determination letter the commission issued last year.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Diane Townsend confidently stood at the front of an afternoon meeting of the 220 Quarterback Club, and — much like her late husband Nelson Townsend — challenged the Rattler community to make a difference by supporting the athletic department.

Townsend stood in front of nearly 60 members of the club Wednesday afternoon at New Times Country Buffet on Monroe Street and said she wants to see her husband's vision for Florida A&M's future fulfilled.

"I'm in orange too," she said.

"This is home now. This is where (Nelson Townsend) died and this is where we're going to stay. I would love to see the vision he had for his school – that was really not his school, but he loved – to do exactly what he knows it can do."

Former head women's cross country, track and field coach at Jackson State University, Pristina Jones brings passion, experience to Irish staff.

NOTRE DAME, Indiana -- One bold step is one huge gain for the Fighting Irish.

Pristina Jones stepped down from her head coaching position at Jackson State University, a place where she oversaw a program (cross country, indoor track and outdoor track) that achieved a perfect score of 1000 in the Academic Performance Rate for three straight seasons (2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14), to become the newest track and field assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame.

"I just applied, and after I did, [Irish head coach Alan Turner] called me and said, `Pristina, are you sure you want to leave being a head coach to come be an assistant coach?' and I was thinking, `Yeah!'

"Sometimes when you have these opportunities, it's not about the title that you have, it's about what you're able to do," Jones said. "I'm able to still do what I had done in my previous coaching position here, just not the title. It's a refreshing position."

Jones will be focusing on sprints and jumps at Notre Dame, events in which she herself was a standout athlete.

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern University head coach Dawson Odums will unveil the Jaguars’ 2015 National Signing Day class during its Feb. 4 recruitment celebration in the Smith-Brown Royal Cotillion Ballroom on the Baton Rouge campus at 7 p.m.

Admission for next Wednesday's event, which is sponsored by the Southern University Quarterback Club and the Blue and Gold Century Club, is $20 and includes a buffet-style dinner and appearances by the SU varsity cheerleaders. Table sponsorship is also available for $300 per table.

All proceeds will be donated to the Southern Jaguars football program.

Odums is scheduled to provide commentary on the new recruits while career highlights of the 2015 class is shown during the two-hour event. Members of the Jaguars coaching staff will also be in attendance.

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- South Carolina State announces an 11-game football slate for 2015 that includes two non-conference opponents, five home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium and a return to the annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Orlando, FL.

SC State will open the season on Sept.5 on the road against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge held in Orlando, FL.

The Bulldogs then kick off their home campaign at O.C. Dawson Stadium on September 12 against Coastal Carolina. Other home games include Florida A&M (Sept. 19), Howard (Oct. 17), Hampton (Oct. 31), and North Carolina A&T (Nov. 7).

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Tuesday afternoon was a day of excitement and promise for the football program at Florida A&M University with the announcement of the first members of the new Rattler Football coaching staff.

FAMU head coach Alex Wood, was all smiles Tuesday as he commented on the appointments to his staff.

“I am extremely excited to work with all these great men. They are coaches, teachers, family men, men of faith who will be great ambassadors for Florida A&M University.

COACH DENNIS R. SMITH

“Many of them I’ve known a long time, and they bring extensive experience to us, and I know they will do nothing but great things for our young men, the football program and the university,” Wood said Tuesday afternoon.

In all Tuesday, five men have been brought aboard to the Rattler coaching staff, with one additional coach retained from the previous staff. “We actually have two more coaches to be hired, one on defense and one on offense,” he said. “I hope to announce them within the next five or six days.”

The newest faces in the Rattler Football realm include:

Martin Spieler, former wide receivers, tight ends and special teams coach at the University of Buffalo, who will serve as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach. Spieler has served as assistant coach at Cincinnati, Allegheny College and Georgia Southern.

COACH EDWIN PATA

Theo Lemon, former head coach at Savannah State, Central (Ohio) State and College of Dupage (Ill.), will serve Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach. His extensive experience also includes staff appointments at Wake Forest, Rutgers, East Carolina, Northeastern, Central State, Kentucky State and Ohio University.

Richard Solomon, former assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Mesa (Ariz.) Community College, will serve as Defensive Backs Coach. Solomon has a lengthy resume which includes professional (Arizona, Minnesota, New York Giants) and collegiate (Western Illinois, Illinois, Syracuse, Iowa, Southern Illinois and the University of Dubuque).

Donald “D.J.” McCarthy, former director of player personnel and assistant to the head coach at Bethune-Cookman University, will serve as Wide Receivers Coach. McCarthy also has assistant coaching experience at LSU, UCLA, UCF, Nevada-Reno, along with an NFL stint (Oakland Raiders), as well as high school and junior college experience.

COACH "D. J." McCARTHY

Dennis R. Smith, formerly an assistant coach and special team coordinator at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi, comes aboard to serve as Tight Ends and Special Teams Coach. Smith had worked prior to his time in junior college on the staffs of the University of Miami and Florida International University.

Retained from the previous staff was Offensive Line coach Edwin Pata, a Miami native, who served the last two seasons (2013, 2014) at FAMU, after working two years (2011, 2012) as an assistant offensive line coach at Florida International (FIU).

NOTE: Click on coach name for link to biography and other info.

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATIONVIDEOS COURTESY OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO

NEW ORLEANS -- For the second consecutive year, Xavier University of Louisiana is No. 3 in the NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll. The NAIA announced rankings Tuesday.

The Gold Nuggets are in the same position they held in the 2014 postseason poll. Xavier was 17-7 last season and became the first XU team in any sport to reach the NAIA's national semifinals two straight times.

The Gold Nuggets' active poll streaks include 22 consecutive top-25 appearances, 17 straight times in the top 10 and seven consecutive top-3 appearances.

The Gold Nuggets will play their first dual match of 2015 at 3 p.m. Friday against city rival Loyola at XU Tennis Center. XU's and Loyola's men's teams also will play at that time. The XU men are ranked eighth.

Defending champion Georgia Gwinnett, 18-4 last season, is the preseason No. 1. It's just the third time in 15 seasons that Auburn Montgomery does not hold that distinction.